Californians have been keeping an eye on the San Andreas Fault for years fearing a “big one” would strike and cause massive damage.
Now, scientists say that a quake of 7.5 or bigger on a lesser known fault might be even more catastrophic than a quake along the San Andreas Fault line.
The Puente Hills thrust fault, which was the fault which brought Friday night’s 5.1 magnitude quake, runs from northern Orange County through downtown Los Angeles and all the way into Hollywood. The San Andreas Fault runs along the outskirts of Southern California’s metro areas.
Thus, scientists say, a massive quake along the Puente Hills fault would cause significantly more damage and likely brings hundreds or thousands of deaths. One estimate from the U.S. Geological Survey estimated as many as 1,800 deaths and $250 billion in damage.
The same fault in 1987 had a 5.9 quake that killed eight people and caused $350 million in damage.
One USGS staffer said that a 7.5 quake centered in Los Angeles would be so intense that it would throw heavy objects like a grand piano into the air.
A 4.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Yellowstone National Park Sunday morning, the strongest quake to strike the park since 1980.
University of Utah seismographic stations recorded the quake at 6:34 a.m. Sunday morning about 4 miles north-northeast of the Norris Geyser Basin.
The quake was far enough from residential areas to not cause significant damage but border towns in Montana about 20 miles from the epicenter reported significant shaking. Park rangers say that the park is very sparsely populated during this time of the year.
The USGS reported at least four aftershocks between magnitude 3.1 and 3.3.
Scientists have been watching the caldera of the Yellowstone Super Volcano closely as it has been rising since 2004, however, they said the recent quake is not the sign of an imminent eruption.
The quake comes less than two weeks after residents and reporters began to notice large migrations of bison and other animals away from the park. One video posted on YouTube March 20th showed a herd of bison running down a highway as if a predator was chasing them.
California residents shaken by an early morning 4.4 magnitude earthquake yesterday are concerned that the quake was not the main event.
Many residents are wondering if the quake was a foreshock of something bigger in the near future.
“Always the possibility that it’s a foreshock,” Robert Graves, a U.S. Geological Survey seismologist, told reports. He added that it would be more likely a more significant quake would happen hours after the foreshock rather than days later.
Graves did say it was likely there would be more aftershocks.
Seismologists at the USGS have not yet been able to determine the fault line where the quake happened but have called it a “rather typical earthquake.”
However, a CalTech seismologist said the quake happened in the northern edge of the Santa Monica Mountains area. He called it surprising because there had not been seismic activity in that region in many years.
A major 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the Chilean Pacific coast Sunday that forced the evacuation of almost 100,000 residents from coastal areas.
The quake struck about 6:16 p.m. local time about a depth of 12.5 miles 37 miles northwest of Iquique. The quake was followed by a series of strong aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.9 to 5.2 according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Officials say that no major damage is reported from the quake however many buildings have broken windows and cracked doors.
Chile’s navy had detected the possibility of a small tsunami setting off the tsunami warning systems between the towns of Arica and Tocopilla. The tsunami was smaller than expected with only a crest of 13 inches above normal sea level.
Chile, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries and is the location of the strongest quake in recorded history, a 9.5 magnitude in 1960 that killed over 5,000 people.
Many Los Angelinos didn’t need their alarm clocks Monday morning due to an early morning earthquake.
The quake only measured 4.4 on the Richter scale but was so shallow that it caused a jolt significant enough to started the usually jaded southern California residents. The 6:25 a.m. quake was only 5 miles deep and centered around 15 miles west-northwest of L.A.’s downtown civic center.
That put the epicenter within 6 miles of Beverly Hills and 7 miles from University City and Santa Monica.
Police and fire officials say there were no immediate reports of significant damage. Residents of the area took to social media to say they had items fall off shelves in their home and a few had bookcases or curios knocked over by the shaking.
California residents may have dodged a big bullet.
A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Sunday night off the coast of northern California, making it the strongest quake to hit west coast since the 2010 Baja California quake that measured 7.2 on the Richter Scale.
The quake struck 50 miles west of Eureka, California in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of four miles. Several aftershocks struck closer to land, including a 3.4 magnitude shock that struck about 16 miles off the coast, but none were centered inland.
Police throughout the region reported no significant injuries.
“My car was rocking back and forth,” Sgt. Brian Stephens of the Eureka Police Department told the LA Times. “I thought someone was shoving my car back and forth, looked around and no one was there. Then I realized what was happening.”
Another resident described the quake as almost like ocean waves, slowly rolling and rocking their home but not causing any real shock.
The Oklahoma Geological Survey is reporting that over 150 earthquakes took place last week in the state.
According to data from the United States Geological Survey, Oklahoma would only experience three or fewer 3.0 or greater magnitude earthquakes in a year. In the firt two months of 2014, over 25 quakes topped that level.
An earthquake expert Michael Lewchuk says that likely one seismic event can trigger many other events. Last week, a dozen of the earthquakes above 2.5 on the Richter scale all took place around Liberty Lake near Guthrie, Oklahoma.
One local resident said the ongoing quakes impact “like a bomb going off” and that they are causing quakes in the foundations of homes.
It’s not only Oklahoma experiencing quake issues. Kansas governor Sam Brownback has issued an order calling for a public safety study on oil and gas drilling’s connection to quakes. Texas and Arkansas have also been looking into the connection.
Ocean City, Maryland is abuzz with speculation after a series of tremors that resembled an earthquake shook the town and neighboring communities.
One resident reported the boom that accompanied the strange quaking was so loud that it “sounded like somebody blew something up.” Bart Rader told the Baltimore Sun a 50-pound metal sculpture on his wall began shaking.
Geologists claim the tremors were not the result of an earthquake and speculated that supersonic jets from the Paxuxent Naval Air Station caused sonic booms. However, no station officials could confirm flights massing Ocean City.
“We’ve had sonic booms in town before, but this seemed different,” firefighter Michael Maykrantz said. “It was more sustained, and then there was a pause for about a minute and then it started again.”
Seismologists also said the tremor was not a result of a frost quake which has been happening during this frigid winter.
Scientists at Stanford University and MIT have found a new way to predict earthquakes and possible damage in areas where seismologists have struggled with oceans causing small seismic waves.
The scientists have developed a way to use ocean waves as a model for earthquakes and its impact on different types of soil.
The study says that Los Angeles is very vulnerable to a large quake from the San Andreas Fault.
The study shows that because the city sits on what’s called a ”sedimentary basin” shock waves from quakes could be magnified as much as three times their usual level. A sedimentary basin is softer, sandier dirt surrounded by a ring of rock. The waves would bounce off the rock and increase in magnitude.
One member of the scientific team said it was similar to a large bathtub full of water. If you shake the tub, the tub does not shake much but the water within violently shakes along with anything on top of it.
The study says the new system will allow scientists to test the impact of an earthquake on buildings in areas that have not experienced an earthquake for many years.
A major earthquake struck western Greece on Sunday afternoon.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck around 3:55 p.m. local time. The quake was centered about 12 miles below the town Lixouri on the island of Kefalonia. At least a dozen aftershocks of 3.5 or higher on the Richter scale have continued to shake the region.
Officials say that no one was killed in the quake but that many suffered minor to moderate injuries from objects falling in their homes. Some roads and highways had to be closed for cracked pavement or large rocks from landslides caused by the quake.
Local Greek websites are showing pictures of moderate to severe damage to old buildings around the epicenter of the quake. Residents of the areas closest to the epicenter were told by government officials to abandon damaged buildings overnight in the event of major aftershocks.
